Rashid, Bairstow shine as Sunrisers open IPL account

All-round Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opened their account in the points tally as Delhi Capitals slumped to their first defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Tuesday. A Rashid Khan masterclass and a Jonny Bairstow fifty helped Sunrisers seal a 15-run victory over Delhi.

Chasing a competitive 162 for victory, Delhi Capitals started off on a very poor note as Bhuvneshwar Kumar got rid of opener Prithvi Shaw in the first over. Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan tried reviving Delhi by adding 40 runs for the second wicket but SRH spinner Rashid Khan removed DC skipper for 17 to dent DC's chase.

After Iyer's dismissal, Shikhar Dhawan found it difficult to accelerate as the asking rate was over 10 for Delhi Capitals and he succumbed to Rashid Khan leaving DC at 62 for 3.

Rishabh Pant was joined in by the West Indian power-hitter Shimron Hetmyer and both left-handers added a quick 42 off just 22 balls. Hetmyer smashed 2 back to back sixes off Khaleel Ahmed in the 15th over but perished in the next over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Pant was the next Delhi batsman to depart as he tried to slog-sweep Rashid Khan but ended up handing an easy catch to Priyam Garg. Delhi's hopes of chasing down a total of 162 received the final blow when T Natarajan removed Marcus Stoinis in the 18th over leaving DC at 127 for 6.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on Jonny Bairstow's 2nd IPL 2020 fifty and Kane Williamson's 26-ball 41 to post a competitive 162 for four after being put to bat first by Shreyas Iyer. David Warner (45) and Bairstow added 77 runs for the opening wicket before SRH skipper gloved a delivery from Amit Mishra to get caught behind in the 10th over.

The umpire had initially turned down the appeal from DC but had to eventually reverse the decision after the replays showed that he had got a glove to it. Mishra returned to dismiss Manish Pandey (3) before Sunrisers crossed the 100-mark in 14th over.

Williamson, who was playing the first match of the season, forged a 52-run stand for the third wicket with Bairstow while accounting for most of the runs in the partnership. Making his IPL debut, Jammu and Kashmir's Abdul Samad (12 off 7) blasted a four and six in his useful cameo.

Bairstow reached his fifty off 44 balls before holding out to Nortje in the 18th over. Williamson too was dismissed in the last over.